Messages - Northwoods

I don't mean to nitpick, I really don't. But when you talk about how this is the Internet and anybody can fabricate factual claims, and then you turn around and say that Bristol is "a fifteen minute ride to downtown Providence"...well, you're kind of asking for it. The actual drive is about double that.

I visited Roger Williams and strongly considered going there. I was impressed with all of the administrators that I met, particularly their dean (Logan) and the head of career services (Bastone), and I sat in on two classes and was impressed by both professors (Ritchie and Kuckes). I think they have the potential to run a damn good program, and probably do.

Some of the students I met while I was being 'recruited' were bright, warm, and engaged, the sort you'd be pleased to have as classmates. Others were more stereotypically "Tier 4 law students." But you're going to get that kind of good and bad at any school. Overall, my impression of Roger Williams was a good one. I didn't go because I got into my first choice and because I think even their best students will have a difficult time impressing anybody in Boston with that degree. Which gets us back to the original point of this thread: For all Roger Williams's strengths as a school, I don't think it will carry any weight (or detriment) in the New Jersey market. I think it's a nonissue.

The quick answer is yes, admissions will look at your situation differently than somebody who took the test three times in one cycle—but only if your numbers are good enough to get them to look that closely at your application in the first place.

It is too early to guess what your "shot at employment" will be. That will depend entirely on factors that have not materialized yet. To analogize, it would be like a high school student writing his personal-statement essay and then asking what are his chances at getting into law school. Without his college GPA and LSAT score, you wouldn't have sufficient information to guess. Same here. Your experience and language skills will help, but other factors will matter more.

I agree with Morten about mid-sized firms hiring international students. I think that unless you find a niche firm and position yourself as an indispensable resource within that niche, it is unlikely you will find a mid-sized firm willing to take that gamble.

The four schools you listed are difficult to compare, employment-wise. In their respective locales, they each offer good prospects. Looking wider, all of them have names that will carry some degree of recognition in outside markets, but none of them have names that will command recognition. For instance, if you wanted to work in Miami, I don't think it would make any difference whether you chose Notre Dame or BC.

Neither school's name is going to carry over into New Jersey, so discount that and make your decision based on other factors. If you want to be a criminal attorney, then experience will matter more than academics. Look into what clinical opportunities each school offers. Talk with the deans or crim-law professors at each school and ask them straight out: How early can I start getting experience? Do they have placement programs with local prosecutors (or public defenders)?

The difference between Tier 3 and Tier 4 may not matter, but the geographic difference matters a great deal. Unless you truly don't care where in the United States you are going to spend your professional life, I think it's absolutely crazy to pick a school that is 1,000 miles away just because they offered you a (not-even-full) scholarship.

Just my two cents. Personally, I think geography trumps almost everything anyway. Unless you're talking about T14, I think it's stupid to go to (for instance) #22 Emory just because it's the best school you got into if you know that you ultimately want to practice in San Francisco. For the OP, who says he wouldn't mind New England but doesn't want to work in Minnesota, I wouldn't go to St. Thomas even if they offered a full scholarship. For that matter, I wouldn't go to Emory. The final value of your law degree is its ability to get you jobs, and the marginal value of a #22-ranked school does not trump spending your three years working and making connections at a school based in the locale where you want to practice.

"New England" is a big area, and Franklin Pierce doesn't have much of any reputation across most of it. If you want to practice in New Hampshire, then go to Franklin Pierce. If you want to spend three years in New Hampshire, then go to Franklin Pierce. And vice versa re Minnesota. $15,000 is helpful, but it isn't a full ride and it wouldn't be a dealbreaker for me in either direction.

In your shoes, I would attend Suffolk. It has a great network, extending beyond the legal field into business and around New England. Also, continuing to work is a big plus—especially if you're not looking to practice afterward, since (presumably) experience will be more important and taking 3 years off will be more detrimental.

The most important part of your/any LOCI is "XXX remains my number one choice and I will accept an offer immediately," but you've got it buried in the middle of a paragraph. Move it to the lede, or at least break a second paragraph at that point.

Nobody can quantify your odds, especially this year. But when it comes to waitlists, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Numbers do still matter; but by the time they look at the wait list, their primary concern is picking students who will enroll if admitted. If they're your first choice, tell them. If you know an RW alumnus, ask him to write a letter on your behalf. Convince them that you're an easy "yes" and they'll be more likely to call you than someone with comparable numbers who hasn't kept in touch. (And you'd be surprised how many applicants don't.)